The Patience and Pain of Two Decades
by Kila9Nishika
Summary: Sirius is dead... isn't he? And just what is it that Remus can't remember? Two decades of memory loss means pain for those who should remember. **Part of TIoMW and TMBM**rated for char death** RLSB


**Disclaimer:** As I am a simple person who does not own tons and tons of money, I must admit to being a plain American girl, and not JK Rowling. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter and the connected involved characters. Oh, well...

**Canon until post-Ootp. Then my imagination takes over.**

This is part of the same universe as _"The Importance of Missy Walker."

* * *

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_**Remus stared morosely out the window as the Order meeting went on. It was mostly coordinating details for picking up Harry tomorrow, but Remus was unable to concentrate. His gaze wandered about the room, focusing on individual people one by one.**_

_**Albus I-Have-Way-Too-Many-Names Dumbledore. Sirius had coined that nickname, back in '79. Dumbledore was the Headmaster of Hogwarts, current Leader of the Order of the Phoenix, well-known for wearing robes that would indicate a possibility of being color-blind. He was currently speaking to the Order about freeing Harry from his awful Muggle relatives (although not in those words, of course).**_

_**Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, and Transfiguration Mistress, the cat Animagus was just as fierce and strict-looking as she had been when Remus was fifteen.**_

_**To his own left sat Nymphadora Tonks, Sirius' cousin. Today, she seemed to be favoring the stereotypical Black family face, grey eyes, and dark blue-nearly black hair.**_

_**Behind Dumbledore, his sharp black eyes hooded, stood Severus Snape, hair falling in his face, as always. The Potions Master was nearly part of the shadows in his ever-black garb.**_

_**Sitting in the chair beside him, as always, was Sirius. Sirius never allowed anyone to take the chair on Remus' right, aside from himself. Currently, he was staring morosely out the window as well, his eyes distant. After all, he was not allowed to leave the house.**_

_**Suddenly, the meeting was over. The room seemed to blur, and the next thing Remus knew, Sirius was stared mournfully at him, the way he often did. Remus watched in a sort of daze as Sirius lifted his silvery eyes.**_

"_**Remember the scar, Remy," Sirius said, his eyes dark. His hand snapping out, Sirius grabbed Remus' right wrist and turned it over, revealing a deep groove in his skin. "Please say that you remember."**_

_**Remus fought with his own mind. "I… can't remember, Padfoot. I can't." **_

_**Abruptly, Sirius let go of Remus' wrist. Tears glittered in his eyes. "Remember, Moony. Remember."**_

_**The room swirled around once, twice, and – **_

Remus woke with a start. His right hand was outstretched, as if reaching for something or someone. Sitting up, Remus rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock.

Sirius had been dead for two months, two weeks, one day, three hours, and twelve minutes. If he thought about it, Remus was reasonably certain that he could calculate the seconds and milliseconds as well. Having a quick brain could be mightily annoying at times, not to mention painful.

Sighing, Remus turned his right wrist over and looked at the deep, pitted scar that sliced across the vein. He could not remember getting it.

For a while he had assumed it was just one of the many results of full moons, but he was obviously wrong. Sirius had once had an odd habit of running his fingers along the scar, and looking up at Remus hopefully, as if it would trigger a memory of something.

One distinct memory he _did_ have was of waking up one night in the dorms at Hogwarts in his seventh year. He had been startled to see Sirius, sitting on the edge of his bed. Remus had been even more startled to see that Sirius was crying. Not only crying, however. Sirius had been running his finger lightly over the scar on Remus' wrist, crying all the while. It made him wonder, sometimes, what exactly had caused the scar…

He was drifting again. _I have to stop that_, he told himself, but it was of very little use. Lately the only thing that could hold his attention was Harry, and Harry was at Hogwarts.

"Remus? Moony, are you there? I'm not waking you, am I?"

Remus stumbled out of bed and pulled on a dressing gown. "Harry?"

From the Floo, Harry's face flushed. "I – well, Terry and I – found this notebook in the Room of Requirement. It's titled 'The Journal of the Marauders.'"

Remus felt dizzy. "What did you say it was called?"

Harry tilted his head, looking odd in the fire. "The Journal of the Marauders."

Remus trembled. The last time any of them had seen the Journal had been at some point during their seventh year. It had been the Marauders' place to write secrets, as a way to tell them to the others without feeling awkward.

"Could I –" his voice cracked. "Could I have it, Harry?"

Harry's head bobbed in the flames, and a hand appeared, tossing a small blue book onto the floor of Remus' living room. "Here."

As Remus picked up the book with shaking hands, Harry smiled and said; "See you around, 'kay?"

Remus looked at Harry. "You are alright? Eating properly?"

Harry flushed. "Yeah, yeah, I'm – taking care of myself." Right after Sirius had died, Harry had stopped eating and generally taking care of himself. The Order had tried and tried to get Harry out of his funk, and it seemed that returning to Hogwarts had finally done it.

Remus smiled. "Good night then, Harry."

Harry smirked. "It's two in the morning, Remus. But yeah, g'night." The fire flared, and went out.

Remus sat down in one of his two old armchairs, and opened the book slowly. It had been so long since he had seen the Journal. Like the Marauders' Map, it had a password, but instead of "I solemnly swear that I'm _up to no good_," the password was "I solemnly swear that I'm (insert nickname here.)" Afterward, there was a personal password, to keep the other Marauders from getting into personal stuff.

Drawing his wand, Remus tapped the page. "I solemnly swear that I'm Moony." He paused, drawing up the long-forgotten memory of his second password. "Silver."

Inky lines blossomed over the page, bringing tears to Remus' eyes. It had simply been too long. He ached, watching as his careful writing from Third Year at Hogwarts filled the first page.

"_This is the Journal of the Marauders, Charmed by Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, Transfiguration done by James Potter. _

"_Dear Journal,_

"_When I first suggested this to Sirius, he knocked me right onto the floor of our dorm, he was so excited! And now it's finally done. Unreadable except by password, which is similar to the map that we are currently creating. _

"_My name is Remus John Lupin, and I am a werewolf. Surprisingly, I am lucky enough to have FOUR friends – Lily Evans, James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black._

"_Lily is a girl in our year who is the only person I know that appreciates schoolwork like I do, but she's a little on the bossy side. She's also the only Gryffindor I know who's friends with a Slytherin._

"_James is the leader of the four of us in our dorm, a pureblood, a bit full of himself, but loads of fun and completely unprejudiced. _

"_Peter is a bit on the quiet side, great at chess and potions, and the most picked-on in our year. He works really hard on schoolwork, not because he likes it, but because he needs to. I think he's great, but my wolf side doesn't like him for some reason, which is rubbish. After all, my wolf side also acts weird around my last friend;_

"_Sirius, named after the Dog Star, is a pureblood who is determined to get away from his family. He seems really wild and uncaring, but if you get to know him well enough…"_

Remus shook his head at the rambling across the pages, and flipped to the back of the book, to the last entry he had written.

"_Sirius is acting really oddly, and I find that I cannot remember things that I should. Some things at the top of this Should-Remember List are:_

"_Where did I get the scar on my right wrist?_

"_Why does Sirius constantly look at me as if I've died or something?_

"_Why is it that Sirius seems to know where the scar on my wrist came from?_

"_What happened after the Prefects' meeting last week, before I returned to the dorm?_

"_Why does Sirius suddenly hate DADA, after loving it for years? Especially since Professor Proditor is one of the most decent teachers we have had in a long time?"_

Remus dropped the book. He had forgotten the Proditor had been his teacher in his sixth year at Hogwarts. In an effort to get a teacher, Dumbledore had actually gotten Proditor to return to teach DADA this year. Remus sighed, and his eyes slipped shut.

"_**Remus… Remus!"**_

_**Remus was standing in the Veil Chamber in the Department of Mysteries. Stading just behind the Veil of Death was a very familiar face.**_

"_**Get me out of here, Moony, please!" Grey eyes pleaded. "It's like Azkaban, and I can't – get – loose!"**_

_**Remus reached out, but could not grab a hold of the outstretched hand. He strained, but was unable to grasp it…**_

_**A book floated past Remus' eyes, embossed with a Grim and a silver lupine flower. The writing on the pale pages was the color of dried blood…**_

_**Remus suddenly found his right wrist held by a familiar grasp, one thumb of his friend's hand running repeatedly over the deeply pitted scar.**_

_**A book in his hand, the Marauders' Journal – "I solemnly swear that I'm Padfoot – Remus John Lupin." Inky lines swirling in front of his eyes…**_

"_**Please…" Sirius pleaded, fading away, "Please… remember."**_

Remus jerked awake. The Journal slid from his hands and hit the floor with a _thump!_ Rotating his shoulders to remove a cramp from sleeping in the armchair, Remus stood and lifted the book. He stopped though, and stared, when he saw the last page. Rather than his handwriting; a memorable cramped scrawl covered the final pages of the book.

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms._

"_I hate Memory Charms…"_

Remus gaped at Sirius' messy cursive. How had the Journal opened itself to Sirius' portion? A part of his dream came the forefront of his mind – _"I solemnly swear that I'm Padfoot – Remus John Lupin."_

His name was Sirius' password! And… wait. How had he _dreamed_ and somehow opened Sirius' part of the Marauders' Journal?

A thought that he had been pushing away loomed in the front of his mind again. Was it possible that Sirius was not dead, and that he was trying to get out from behind the Veil?

No. He couldn't think like that. Not only was it undeniably stupid to yearn against the inevitable, but he was also causing himself endless pain. Sirius was past the Veil. Sirius was dead. But…

There was that book, the one in the dream. It had a Grim and a silver Lupine on it. Where had he seen it before?

The Black Family Library.

Remus made his decision. He would find that book, and prove to himself that his dream had been just that – a dream.

It had taken Remus hours of sorting through books that screamed, bit, shook and bled, before he found the book he was looking for.

It was most interesting, even closed. The covers were made from deep red dragon hide, and the Grim and lupine were either dragon hide or basilisk skin. Carved into the cover, in deep black handwriting, read:

_**The Visione ande Life-Worke Arnehelde Emelienne Black**_

_**Alsoe Knowne As**_

_**The Veil of Endymion**_

_**Or**_

_**The Doore of Orpheus**_

_**Or**_

_**Dromos Upnos toi Thanatos**_

Curiously, Remus gently opened the book. It had, after all, belonged to the Blacks, who were notorious for family-specific Charmed books. Casting a translation charm, Remus began to read.

_This is my life's work in writing, what I have spent my many secluded years laboring with. My name is Arnehelde Emelienne Black, and I built a special doorway for the Council of Five Hundred, in the Year of Our Mother 393._

_This doorway, called The Veil of Endymion by the Council, and called the Door of Orpheus by the family Potter, is best titled the Way of the Sleep of Death. _

_Similar to the effects of a dementor, the inside of the Way brings forth one's more horrible memories. There is a way out from within, for those of strong will and stout heart. My sister's husband, Hektore Potter insisted upon it._

_For those who truly love and are loved by one person Outside, to the point that they would die to save that person's life and vice versa, it would be possible to commune between them through the power of thought and dreams._

_As shall follow, I shall detail the various rituals for removing a person from behind the Veil, and the various people and equipment needed for each one. Also, there may be faintly differing results, depending on the ritual. _

_To begin with, the easiest, to be later referred as Ritual Alpha, does remove the pertinent body, but leaves the soul behind._

_The most difficult, Ritual Omega-Beta, not only removes the person from behind the Way, but heals the effects of the Way and any previous similar damages such as those caused by dementors, dating back as far as a decade._

_For Ritual Alpha, one must…_

Within six months, Remus read the book from cover to cover. The best ritual that Arnehelde detailed for his purpose required ten people, the life's blood of ninety-nine sheep, and the tears of a lover. Not to mention the fact that it needed to be accomplished within nine days of the original deposit of the person behind the Veil.

The ritual that Remus finally decided on was Ritual Sigma-Lambda – Ritual 220. It was the simplest he could afford to do, requiring only one person, (although recommending two,) and the blood of the dreamer involved, as well as a diamond melted in Fiendfyre with dragon's blood and the blood of the victim behind the Veil. Add in a silver knife, and that was all.

Remus easily acquired the silver knife; back before Sirius had escaped from Azkaban, Remus had contemplated death often, and had kept the deadly (to him) blade in a drawer in his writing-desk. He could provide his own blood, so that was easily obtained as well.

After a great deal of digging, Remus found a diamond in Grimmauld Place, along with some dragon's blood. With a sigh, and some tears repressed with difficulty, Remus went through his old schoolbooks and clothing until he found the small chain that held four vials – vials that carried the blood of one Marauder each.

A short, scorch-marked trip to an empty field in Wales later, and Remus had everything he needed.

Arriving at the Department of Mysteries, Remus hesitated. Should he inform someone of where he was? He would prefer that, if something went wrong. But on the other hand, everyone would try to stop him. Everyone except…

Remus pulled a small mirror from his pocket. "Harry Potter," he said firmly.

To his surprise, the face of a boy he vaguely recognized answered. "Professor Lupin?"

Remus frowned, placing the face. Grey-green eyes, red-brown curls… Terry Boot. Wasn't he Harry's Potions tutor this year? "Yes… Mr. Boot?"

Terry's cheeks darkened a bit. "Harry's practicing Quidditch right now. D'you want me to pass him a message, or is it urgent?"

Remus shook his head. "It shouldn't be urgent. Tell Harry…" Remus thought for a moment. "Tell Harry that I have returned to the room from this past June, and to get help if I don't call again in a couple of hours."

Terry looked as if his brain was working furiously as he nodded, but nod he did, before shutting the mirror off.

Remus began the ritual with a shakily drawn breath.

An hour and a half later, Remus was still reciting under his breath, wishing somewhere in the back of his head that the ritual was in French or Italian instead of Ancient Greek.

He had spent ten minutes carefully painting a circle in his own blood, using the two pillars of the Veil as anchor-points and thus leaving the circle open. Swiftly setting the oddly red-glowing melted diamond on the ground directly parallel to the opening of the Veil, Remus had begun the ritual.

He hadn't really expected it to take so long, but after the properly recited, thrice repeated Greek that he had carefully memorized, Remus breathed a sigh of relief when the melted diamond lit up, and the Veil reacted by glowing ruby-colored. Continuing to recite furiously, his heart beating faster as the possibility of retrieving Sirius truly hit him like a pile of bricks, Remus ignored his slowly swelling wrists as the silver-infected slices for the ritual began to react badly.

The circle blazed white, and vanished as the ritual drew to a close. Slowly, Remus began to notice his throbbing wrists, but he determinedly pushed it out of mind – he more important things to focus on!

The melted diamond burned a vibrant crimson and gave off a keening sound that made Remus' ears ache. The Veil flared once, twice –

It billowed outward –

Remus could feel his magic leeching away, but determinedly kept on, he had to do this –

A door slammed in the background; footsteps –

Remus' vision tunneled he saw the circle flare into the visible spectrum one more time –

He saw a dark shape fall from the Veil –

His whole body trembling, Remus collapsed.

He could hear voices, but they seemed to tumble together, Harry, Terry, and –

"Oh, Moony, what have you done to yourself?"

_Oh, Moony, what have you done to yourself… to yourself… to yourself…_

_REMEMBER_

_**REMEMBER!**_

"_**Oh, Moony, what have you done to yourself?"**_

_**Remus looked up from the floor of the bathroom with unconcealed horror as Sirius walked into the room and shut the door. He sat there, frozen, even when Sirius balled up his school tie and wrapped it around the deep slice in his right wrist.**_

"_**I… I…" Remus didn't know how to explain the way he felt, how to explain that this afternoon had been so horrible, had been horrible on top of horrible to the point that he wanted to **__**die**__**. **_

_**Sirius sat on the floor beside him. "Why, Moony? Did you think that it wouldn't hurt us? I'd die, if you did."**_

_**Remus gaped at Sirius. "What do you mean? You'd die if I did?"**_

_**Sirius' silver-grey eyes were round with nervousness, and his lips were pressed tightly together for a moment.**_

"_**Listen… about this afternoon…" Earlier that afternoon, Mary-Anne Woollier had cornered Sirius and kissed him in front of the entire Gryffindor common room. It had been that event that had finally triggered the pain in Remus' heart to this point.**_

"_**What about it?" Remus turned his head awkwardly to face Sirius.**_

_**Sirius blushed. "I – if I had known that Woollier was going to do that, I would have moved away from her as fast as possible."**_

_**Remus felt as if everything he knew was slowly turning on its head. "Why?"**_

_**An expression of uncertainty shot across Sirius' face for a fleeting moment, but before Remus could repeat the question, Sirius closed the gap between their lips.**_

_**Remus' eyes widened, and then slid shut. Was this a dream? He'd had so many… but then one of Sirius' hands tangled in his hair, and Sirius' tongue gently brushed at his lips, and Remus felt his heart soar. This was real. This was perfect.**_

Remus gasped. "I… remember!" The world faded away, and turned white.

* * *

Remus woke to the comfortingly familiar feeling of a rough thumb smoothing repeatedly over the deep scar on his right wrist. With some effort, Remus opened his eyes. "Padfoot?"

"Moony! No, don't move, Harry's getting Madam Pomfrey." Remus felt a tired smile spread over his face as Sirius babbled at him.

"Sirius… Sirius!"

Sirius stopped. "What, Moony?"

Remus took a deep breath. "I remember."

Sirius stared at him. "What –"

"Sirius Orion Black, get back into your bed this minute!"

Madam Pomfrey bustled over to Remus' bed, three potions in hand. "Drink the red one first, and the green one last, Remus. Sirius, _get in your bed!_ Mr. Boot, please put Mr. Potter back into _his_ bed, and sit on him if you have to!" She didn't seem to notice the bright red blush that had spread itself over Harry's and Terry's faces at those words.

Remus swallowed each of the (disgusting) potions, and turned in his bed to face Harry and Terry. "How long?"

Terry gave Harry one last shove into the bed before seating himself on Harry's legs. "You've been out for a week; Harry only woke up this morning. Sirius was up and about – well, as much as Madam Pomfrey would let him – three days ago."

Remus lifted a hand. "Wait, wait, wait. Harry woke up? What happened to you, Harry?"

Harry pushed ineffectually at Terry. "You were dying and I – erm – panicked. I reached the Fifth Level."

Remus' eyes widened. Securing one's magic by way of meditation was ignored by most wizards as too difficult and time-consuming. However, from what Harry had just said, not only had he been working on it, but he was also more powerful than most of the wizards in the world. Of the powerful wizards in Britain, only Dumbledore and Voldemort had five levels to their magic.

"So you reached the Fifth Level? And that's why you were out of commission for a week?" Remus raised an eyebrow, and Harry ducked his head. Sirius snickered at Remus' "professor voice."

"Erm, no? Well, I kind of overloaded both you and me with raw magic, and burned my magical core so that Madam Pomfrey had to put my body in stasis until my core had healed. I… well…" Harry went from looking rebellious to just plain sheepish.

Terry rolled his eyes. "What Mister I-Break-All-The-Rules-Of-Magic is trying to say, is that he somehow managed to completely destroy your Lycanthropy while blasting his magic through your body, in a feat impossible to replicate."

Remus gaped. "What… he… impossible!"

"_That_, Remus, is exactly what I said," Madam Pomfrey said, closing a drawer in one of her many cabinets with a firm _snap!_ "But, I have seen Mr. Potter achieve the impossible again and again, to the point that I am beginning to wonder if _anything_ is impossible in his eyes."

"Hey!" Harry attempted to look hurt. "Madam Pomfrey – oof!" Terry whacked him with a pillow.

"Lie down, idiot," Terry ordered. "Or I'll make you write down all of the uses for Tobiko versus Masago." Harry winced, and lay down obediently.

The next morning, Harry had somehow vanished from the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was stalking about furiously, muttering about tying Harry down next time he entered her domain. Terry had dashed out of the room with the Marauders' Map in his hands, intent on finding Harry.

Remus sat up. Madam Pomfrey had decreed that he could leave the Hospital Wing at the end of the day. "Sirius?"

Sirius, who had been idly Conjuring blindingly vividly colored butterflies, Vanished them and turned to face him. "What is it, Moony?"

Remus twisted his hands through the sheets of his bed as his stomach mimicked those actions with a twisting feeling as well. "I… I don't really know how best to explain. Sirius, I can remember."

Sirius straightened sharply, hope filling his eyes. "You… remember?" Standing in one smooth movement, he seated himself on the edge of Remus' bed.

Remus licked his lips. "When you said, right after you got out of the Veil, you said 'Oh, Moony, what have you done to yourself,' and suddenly, I remembered. I had been trying to figure out what it was that I was forgetting –" Sirius caught Remus' right wrist in his hand, and rubbed the deep and slightly swollen scar that was grooved across the tan skin.

"You – you really remember?" Sirius breathed. His cheeks were a bit flushed, and his eyes were overly bright.

Remus locked eyes with Sirius, wishing that he could send his memories right into Sirius' head. "Yes, I – oomph!" Sirius' lips connected with his – hard.

Memories, memories of doing this in the dorms, in the Prefects' Bathroom, on the Quidditch Field, in the Shrieking Shack; they swam through Remus' head. Tears filled Remus' eyes, and he cried unashamedly as he clung to Sirius. In between kisses, Remus managed to gasp out just how miserable life had been for the time that Sirius had been presumed dead. All of the built-up pain from the twelve years that Sirius had been in Azkaban, the two years that Sirius had been on the run, the one year at Grimmauld Place, and the time that Sirius was behind the Veil suddenly seemed to just explode, pouring from his aching heart like spilled blood.

They were still holding each other when a clanging siren went off.

"_ALL DA MEMBERS PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS. HEALERS TO THE HOSPITAL WING. CIVILIANS AND STUDENTS UNDER SECOND YEAR REPORT TO THE NEAREST ESCAPE ROUTE. REPEAT. ALL DA MEMBERS PLEASE REPORT TO YOUR STATIONS…"_

The door to the Hospital Wing slammed open, and Harry practically blasted inside; his hair was wild, and he was holding the wrist of – Draco Malfoy?

"Harry?" Sirius began, bewildered.

Harry shook his head. "No time," he said breathlessly. "Are you two able to fight, or do you want to lead evacs?"

As Harry spoke, a pair of girls burst into the Hospital Wing and immediately began lining people up and Levitating those that could not stand. Remus and Sirius turned to each other, and Remus reluctantly nodded. "We probably aren't ready for actual fighting."

Harry nodded sharply. "Susan. Hannah."

The two girls working like whirlwinds stopped short, and saluted. "Harry." Hannah Abbott was no longer the chubby girl with blonde pigtails, but now was a bright-eyed young woman with a shoulder-length blonde braid. Susan Bones had cut her once-long red curls mercilessly short, so that they framed her head.

Harry nodded at his Hufflepuff yearmates. "Remus and Sirius are going to help you two with evacs, alright?" Before either girl could answer, Harry was out the door.

Remus stood and walked over to Susan Bones, who was efficiently placing all of the contents of Madam Pomfrey's various cabinets and drawers into trunks.

"What should we do?" Remus asked. Susan didn't even pause as she looked up.

"People who come in that need serious healing should be Levitated to the side room with the plaque titled 'Harry Potter.' People who don't need serious healing should be healed and sent on their way. Undersecs should go into the HP room as well, and Oversecs should either go with the evacs or down to the fight. In half an hour, we lock down this floor, followed by the Hospital Wing." Each word was punctuated with a _click_ as bottle after bottle was placed into the trunks spread out before Susan on the floor.

Remus nodded. "We'll ferry and guard, by the door. We'll also quick-heal any who can be, as they enter." He turned to Sirius, who nodded. "We'll be by the door," he repeated, "Give us more instructions if you need to."

Susan just returned to emptying out what seemed to be everything that Madam Pomfrey owned. Hannah was healing those that could be healed, and Levitating those that couldn't. She was also… flipping the beds over?

"Harry set traps on the underside of the beds, it's for if we need a quick getaway. Sue and I have been practicing for this for months, now, ever since Harry and Terry restarted the DA." Hannah, like Susan, continued to work as she talked.

Time seemed to move oddly as they ferried children in and out. Remus was uncertain how long it had been when there was a loud _boom!_ The wall facing the outside of the Hospital Wing caved in, revealing ten Death Eaters on brooms.

Susan threw the last of the trunks shut, and hurled it at one of the leaving Second Years, who needed both hands to carry it. "Close down the Wing!" she shouted. "_CLOSE DOWN THE BLOODY WING!"_

Hannah slammed the door to the HP room shut after the last fleeing student, and whirled. "I got it!" Aiming carefully, Hannah shot a blue beam of light at a pale green stone over the door to the wing.

With a rumbling groan, the walls of the Hospital Wing merged on either side of the doors until there was no evidence of an exit. The door to the Hospital Wing from the HP room burst open, and, to their surprise, Tonks stumbled out.

"Everyone's through," she gasped. "Everyone's through, but Dumbledore's down!"

Behind her, another person from the Order came through – Professor Proditor, this year's Defense teacher. Sirius, finishing off one Death Eater and kicking them over the edge of the open wall, turned and stared.

"You!" Throwing a perfect punch that downed the Death Eater in front of him, Sirius threw himself at Proditor. "You're the one who Memory-Charmed Moony! You… you!"

Tonks ducked a spell, and squeaked. "What?"

Suddenly, everything fell into place. Who would be in the perfect position to let the Death Eaters in? Who had Memory-Charmed him? Remus stared. "You let them in," he breathed. "You let the Death Eaters in."

Proditor smirked as he ducked one of Sirius' more vicious spells. "I remember when I was given my first orders from the Dark Lord; I was so proud. He told me to separate the forming Soul Bond at Hogwarts, but leave them alive as possible future Death Eaters. The forming Soul Bond was easily felt by anyone with trained, Level Four magic, so it was easy to grab the two of you and Memory-Charm away your memories of being in love. And because of the Defense position being my first job, I even got back in when my Lord needed a new teacher! I was –"

But whatever Proditor was would never be known, because a vicious Cutting Curse from Sirius combined with a brutal Bludgeoning Curse from Remus to completely blow the now-former teacher to tiny bits.

A flash of green made Remus' heart stop as he caught sight of it from the corner of his eye, and he felt a shattering pain when Hannah Abbott threw herself in front of the curse to save Susan. Such a beautiful young life, gone for what?

Susan seemed to grow with her anger, she set off the traps, and began hexing and cursing the Death Eaters with a fury that left one breathless just to watch her.

Remus and Sirius were fighting back-to-back, and Tonks seemed to be doing twice the amount of damage she would have had she not been so clumsy.

A flash of red light took Susan down, and a kaleidoscope of red, blue, and green sent Tonks careening to the floor (along with four Death Eaters, who were quickly decapitated).

Remus could feel his breath coming in harsh gasps as the wall hiding the doorway blew inward, and more Death Eaters attacked. Ducking behind a partially destroyed overturned bed, Remus shut his eyes and breathed slowly, calling up his magic as best as he could at short notice. He had only ever managed to reach Level Three, but even that was an accomplishment –

And then a hand clasped with his, and more power welled through his body –

Level Four was achieved.

Level Five was achieved.

Remus opened his eyes, nearly choking on the raw power coursing through his body. He couldn't think of a time when he had felt this strong.

Remus turned to see Sirius crouching beside him, silver eyes steely and roiling with power. Nodding to each other, they turned so that they were back-to-back again, and struck until they had nothing left to hit with.

Looking around at the scattered bodies, Remus leaned against Sirius as he caught his breath. The room seemed to be spinning in circles.

A blaze of gold light erupted from somewhere below the ruins of the Hospital Wing, enveloping the room with an entrancing radiance. As it faded, Remus felt the world fade away for the second time in what seemed to have been a very short time.

* * *

The aftermath proceeded to be the most interesting and yet happy time of Remus' life.

He and Sirius had finally Bonded, and Sirius was free to take up his hold over the Black Family. With all of the gleefulness that Remus had feared lost, Sirius ran roughshod over the old Wizarding governmental system, happily rebuilding into a better and more logical structure.

Susan Bones had married the now-well known Neville Longbottom, who was referred to by the Goblins as Thornarm. During the final battle, Neville had used powerful magic to control a thorny vine, and fused it to his arm. He now had an interesting tattoo of a vine that became three-dimensional whenever he wished. Hannah Abbott was buried on the Longbottom grounds, in honor of saving Susan's life.

Of what Remus had once thought of as the "Golden Trio," there was only a duo left.

Hermione Granger had married Slytherin Blaise Zabini and was having the time of her life teaching Ancient Runes _and_ History of Magic. Not to mention dabbling in being a barrister.

Ron Weasley had gone swiftly into Quidditch, and was a top-class Keeper, married to Chaser Serena Fawcett of the Holyhead Harpies. He brought the Chudley Canons easily to the top of the league.

To the shock of the Wizarding World, Harry Potter had vanished. He had been torn to pieces at Terry Boot's death, and had disappeared swiftly after the end of the last battle. Occasionally, though, Remus and Sirius would receive letters from him.

Perhaps one of the greatest changes Sirius and Remus made in the Wizarding World was the inclusion of the power of love and marriage. Not only were marriages with werewolves, vampires, and Veela made acceptable, but muggle partners in Wizarding marriages were being fully soaked into the swiftly changing culture.

Those changes were made quite evident in 2019, when Artemis Athena Malfoy, Draco Malfoy's non-magical wife, became Minister of Magic.

**FIN**


End file.
